Past, Present, Future
by Kiersa
Summary: Rukia is starting to discover that she has some different sort of feelings for Ichigo, but can't seem to forget about her past with Renji. Renji is also having trouble, dwelling on his past with Rukia. RukiaxIchigo, RenjixRukia.
1. Chapter 1

**Past, Present, Future**

I don't wanna keep harping on about this, but this is my first fic that I've posted. I've written others that have been tossed to the dark confines of my mind, only dredged up everynow and again when I get bored and go through all the stories I've ever written (and the sad thing with those stories, is that I have about 5 originals, all about the same thing. I have trouble picking where the original that I want to write is going to go).

Anyway. This is not a place for originality.  
This is a place for "borrowing" characters and places, and maybe even storylines.

Reviews are welcome.  
Or not.  
But if i get positive reviews, I will stay positive about my writing, and not give it up for a hopeless cause.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Bleach, or any of the characters in this story. Which is probably a good thing. Because Tite Kubo is just so much better than I am at writing it. Obviously. (Although, if I had control, there would definitely be more loving between the characters...)  
**Warnings:** Not much in this one. There will be more to warn about in future chapters, however.

* * *

"_Rukia! What's going on?" Renji demanded as he caught up with small girl as she walked through the hall._

_Without looking at him, Rukia continued her brisk pace forward. "I told you, I've been adopted into the Kuchiki family. Now, if you don't mind, I'm late for class. And you'll be late too."_

_Renji flung out an arm to grasp her slender shoulder and to make her stop and look at him. "I don't give a damn about class. Why won't you just talk to me about this?"_

"_What _is_ there to talk about, Renji? I've been adopted into nobility, my surname is now Kuchiki, and I have to go to class because I have an important family name to uphold!" she replied angrily, trying to snatch possession of her shoulder back so that she could continue forward. But the taller man just grabbed her other shoulder with his free hand and turned her so they were looking squarely at one another._

"_It doesn't mean you have to ignore me, though," he said quietly, his brow furrowed with obvious confusion and sadness._

_Rukia's eyes dropped, and her frame slumped in Renji's grasp. "I'm sorry, Renji, but I don't have time for this anymore. There is a lot of pressure on me now to do well. I've been handed a position in one of the thirteen Court Guard Squads, I can't just ignore that. I need to prove that I deserve it. I need to prove that the decision to adopt me into one of the most important and powerful families was not for nothing. I need to focus on school; I just don't have time for this."_

"_You don't have time... for this?" Renji repeated hollowly._

_Squeezing her eyes shut, Rukia tried to control her breathing. "No. I'm sorry. I really am."_

_And with that, the small raven-haired girl slid from the tall red-head's hold and continued her previous path towards class, not looking back at Renji's slumped shoulders and look of despair and confusion still etched onto his face._

**

Rukia opened her eyes slowly, the guilt in her stomach making her feel sick. It had been so long since that day in the hall between classes. It had been so long since she had even thought about it. Did Renji still think about it? Why was she dreaming about such a thing?

She wrapped her slender arms around her body, in an attempt to hug herself. She and Renji had never officially been together. They had always just been really good friends, just trying to get by and survive in the harsh world of one of the poorest Rukongai districts. As they had gotten older, before they had gone to the Academy, they had had 'relations' with one another. But they had never considered themselves to be together.

Looking back now, Rukia realised that even though they had never officially dated, that was the day she had broken up with Renji. And if she had of seen his face when she turned away from him then, she would have realised how much it broke his heart.

Squeezing her eyes shut, similar to when she had done it all those years ago, Rukia tried to hold back the tears that threatened to spill out. Whoever said that it was easy for her to turn her back on him? He was her best friend, she had loved him too! But her brother had said that she needed to quit all ties to her less than respectful past. And that meant Renji had to be the first to go. Byakuya had said that if she refused to accept these conditions, that she would be effectively refusing her new place in the family, and she would be cast back out onto the streets, never allowed to return to the Soul Reaper Academy again.

She would have been a fool to turn down such an opportunity to escape the poverty she had grown up in, to lose everything she had gained since coming to the Academy. She had assumed that Renji would realise that, that one day he would forgive her. She had never actually found out if he did forgive her or not; he never acted like he did.

Nearby, the buzzing of an alarm clock when off, and Rukia started at the sound. Was it time to get up already?

The sound snapped off with a harsh click of a button that has been beaten too many times, and a few seconds later the door of the cupboard Rukia was occupying as her bedroom was flung open. A bleary faced Ichigo stood silhouetted in the frame as he searched for his school uniform, and Rukia quickly wiped the tears from her face in case the boy noticed. Chances were good that he wouldn't notice, seeing as mornings were definitely not his thing, but she didn't want to risk any taunting from the immature brat.

"Ichigo!" she snapped, sitting up and clutching the sheet to her chest. It was summer and too hot to wear proper pyjamas, so Rukia had taken to wearing a small singlet and her underpants to bed. As a result of the heat, Ichigo was also sleeping in less clothing, currently wearing only his boxers as he stared at Rukia blankly.

"I'm just looking for my uniform so I can go have a shower," he mumbled.

"Well, you don't normally get your uniform before showering, so why are you doing it now?" she demanded, subtly checking that the sheet covered any parts that may be exposed.

"What? Oh, I dunno. I just am. Shut up, will ya?" he grumbled before slamming the door shut.

Ichigo cursed himself as he entered the bathroom. Rukia was right; he always went right to the shower when getting up, then putting on his uniform after he had gotten back to his room. Why on earth did he go straight to the closet? Was he so out of it in the mornings that he had forgotten had not yet showered?

As the warm water hit his head and ran through his orange hair and down his lean back, something else hit him. A dream he had had just before waking... a dream that had been interrupted by the buzzing of the alarm.

Ichigo snapped his eyes open before realising his head was directly under the stream of water coming from the shower head, his eyes filling with it and causing them to sting slightly from the onslaught. Stepping back and furiously rubbing at his eyes, Ichigo tried to remember the dream. Rukia had been there, this much he could remember. His subconscious must have wanted to check on her, so without knowing what he was doing, he had gone to the closet first.

But what had the dream been about? Had she been in some kind of trouble, and that was why he had felt the subconscious need to check on her. Her powers were slowly returning day by day, but she was still nowhere near her previous powers, so it can't have been an uncommon dream to have.

After a few minutes had passed, and his hair was now freshly washed, Ichigo concluded that he was going to remember nothing more about the dream, other than that it had Rukia in it. Shutting off the water and wrapping a towel loosely around his waist, Ichigo stepped from the bathroom and back into his bedroom.

Rukia was already dressed in her uniform when Ichigo entered the room, and was in the process of brushing her hair. "I was starting to think you had drowned in there, you were taking so long," she joked.

"Ha ha, very funny," Ichigo replied dryly.

Rukia turned to look at the tall boy, intending to throw some sort of quip back at him, but found she had little to say to him once she had already opened her mouth. Shutting it quickly, she merely looked at him as he reached into the closet to grab out his uniform.

She couldn't help but notice just how much the boy was filling out, muscle wise. His new active lifestyle of fighting, running, and wielding his Zanpaktou had caused his body to tone up. And while there were random silver scars etched in his body from past fights, they merely added to his aura of mystery and danger. His hair was getting longer too; Rukia made a mental note to tell him he should get it cut soon. Although, it didn't look too bad this longer length...

The small girl sitting on the bed gave her head a little shake. She was not just thinking that Ichigo was looking good. It wasn't as if the boy held any attraction for her; she was a mature woman, what interest could she have in an immature adolescent male like Ichigo?

However, as Ichigo grumbled and threw clothes to the floor, Rukia found herself experiencing a typical 'mature woman' reaction as she watched him. It was hard to not notice the fact that there was a half naked male in the room, especially when his body was as nice as this. She noticed his towel hanging loosely about his hips, maybe even beginning to loosen even more and begin to slip as he searched for his uniform. She noticed how his shoulders were broader than they had been when she first met him, and how he was probably even slightly taller; he was still growing after all.

While Rukia was busy noticing things she may have overlooked otherwise, Ichigo found his pants, the last item he was searching for. Grabbing a new pair of boxers from the draw, Ichigo slipped into them, throwing off his towel once he had them on.

As he pulled on his pants, he noticed Rukia staring into nothing. So, she was day dreaming again, he sighed to himself. "Rukia," he called, but got no answer from her. "Rukia!"

"Huh?"

"What are you doing?" he asked as he pulled his white shirt on.

"Oh, ah, nothing." A slight blush crept into her cheeks as she resumed brushing her hair.

"Well... okay, then," Ichigo replied, not sounding convinced. Grabbing the discarded towel, he swiped at his hair roughly. "I'm going to get breakfast. I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Okay," she answered, sounding strangely distracted.

**

"_Lieutenant!"_

"_Sir!"_

"_I would like it if you joined us for dinner, this evening."_

_Renji eyed off his captain suspiciously. "Sir?"_

"_I know you and Rukia were good friends growing up, and I think it would be nice if you came to eat with us on the anniversary of her adoption."_

_Renji clenched his fists. He wanted to say no, that he had better things to do than to eat dinner with self-obsessed nobility such as them. But he couldn't say no to a request from his captain. "That would be good, sir," he replied instead._

_Even though most other people would have smiled, Byakuya did not. "Very well. See you at seven then."_

_As Renji watched his captain leave, his eyes narrowed in obvious distaste towards the noble. From the moment he first met him, Renji never trusted Byakuya Kuchiki. He had stolen the only family Renji had left, and turned them against him. It had been years since Rukia had spoken to him in the hall of the Academy, when she had effectively told him they couldn't see each other anymore._

_That was the day Renji swore he would be better than Kuchiki. He had to, in order to win Rukia back._

_He and Rukia progressed through the thirteen Court Guard Squads after graduation, Renji's good grades enabling him a position in one of them, and Rukia's recent family connections enabling her position. Renji's determination to excel over Kuchiki had him training harder than anyone else, and Renji even managed Bankai, something only Soul Reapers wanting to become a captain bothered with._

_Soon enough, Renji was chosen to be Lieutenant of Squad 6, underneath Kuchiki. And while he grumbled about it at first, he then realised what a golden opportunity it was to surpass the man he held a grudge against._

_Renji had lost count of the years since Rukia had been adopted, of how long he had been attempting to be better than her 'older brother'. It must have been something big though, for the captain to invite his lieutenant. Personally, Renji didn't think he could sit in the same room as Rukia, ignoring all they once had, ignoring all that he ever felt for her. But you don't ever turn down a captain, let alone your own._

**

Renji opened his eyes and quickly threw the sheet over his face to stop the light from flooding his sight too much. Why was he dreaming about that night at dinner? He remembered it had been one of the most awkward things he had ever attended, and later swore that Kuchiki had done it on purpose.

Sitting up and rubbing at his eyes, he glanced around the small room he was currently occupying. He was in a gigai in the back of Urahara Shoten. And he needed to piss like he had been asleep for months, not hours.

Throwing back the sheet and locating his pants (it was so hot in the World of the Living that he had been sleeping naked), he pulled them on, but didn't bother doing them up; he was only going to undo them again in a few seconds.

After he had relieved himself, he wandered towards the front of the shop, where he could hear Tessai arguing with Uraru and Jinta, and Urahara humming to himself as he sorted through some stock. Renji felt bad that he must have slept in; he didn't want to impose on the ex soul reaper, and tried to help as much as possible.

Sliding open the door separating shop from abode, all eyes snapped to Renji.

"Ah, Mr Abarai, good to see you're finally up," Urahara casually remarked. "But you hardly look presentable to be standing in the shop," he continued, commenting on the fact Renji had no shirt and his hair was hanging about his face.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't realise it would be a problem," he blushed.

"Well it is, especially when we have little girls here." A smile was beginning to creep over Urahara's face, and Renji decided the less he was around here today, the better.

"Well, I just wanted to let you know that I was going to head out, today. So... I'll just go get ready, and then I'll be outta your hair."

Urahara chuckled. "Fine. I guess we'll be seeing you in time for dinner, Mr Moocher?"

Renji cringed inwardly. He knew they were only having a little fun, but it was at his expense. And any fun at his expense, the lieutenant did not see as fun. "I'm not sure. Probably not."

"Oh?" Urahara raised an eyebrow, and the three behind him laughed.

Renji slid the door shut again, and walked back to his room. Locating a shirt, he wondered what the hell he was actually going to do today.

* * *

Wow.  
My first story. Well, not really. But it's the first one I've put up.

Not much happens in this chapter, I know. It's more for setting the scene in later chappies.

Would be great if you could me know how I'm going.  
What should I do better?  
Should I keep going at all?

If you're going to review because you have negative criticism, that's fine. It helps me be better.  
Just don't be mean about it, okay? I have a small, fragile ego, that's easily shattered by my insecurities.


	2. Chapter 2

**Past, Present, Future**

2nd chapter.  
Woo.

No negative feedback from the first one, so I'm assuming something is working.  
Actually, there was no feedback at all.  
But I am encouraged by the fact someone put it on story alert.  
Thanks, to you. I didn't read your stories though, because I've only ever watched the first ep of Inuyasha, and that was a long time ago.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Bleach, or any of the characters in this story. Well, there's a random student that has no name in this chapter. I might own her. I don't think she's an actual Bleach character.  
**Warnings:** Renji gets angry and swears. He's such a rebel.

* * *

Over at the high school, class had already started, and Ichigo was already not paying attention. The orange haired boy was starting dully out the window of their third storey classroom, and behind him Rukia was doodling on a piece of paper from her notebook. The teacher was droning on about geometry, and the entire class could not care less.

Ichigo was still trying to remember the dream he was having from this morning. Ordinarily, it wouldn't bother him to not be able to remember a dream, but he had a nagging feeling it wasn't a normal sort of dream. Obviously he was there, and Rukia was there, he already knew that. They had been trapped in the school? Had a hollow done that in the dream? No, Ichigo had still been in human form.

Ten minutes later, Ichigo was pulled out of his musings by the bell going off and the class moving out. Joining the chattering crowd, Ichigo followed them out towards the lunch area. From there, small groups split up and went to their separate areas.

Rukia sat down on the grass with the other girls, laughing and commenting every now and again when required, but not contributing much to the idle gossip. As usual, Oriheme was showing off what she had for lunch, most of the other girls were politely ignoring it, and Chizura was trying to flirt with Oriheme. Tatsuki was trying to fend off the advances, and Oriheme was still completely oblivious to it all.

Lunch continued in this fashion for a few minutes until Rukia noticed something different. But it was Oriheme who picked up on it slightly faster.

"Renji!" she cried, waving to the tall man with outrageously coloured hair. Today he wasn't dressed too strangely, like he had in the beginning. But instead of his usual headbands, he had a pair of his sunglasses on.

When he spotted who was calling his name, he smiled, waved back, and began walking over. The other girls were looking at Oriheme strangely; they had never seen this man before, but Oriheme seemed to be on very good terms with him. So it didn't seem so strange, Rukia decided that she should let the others know that it was okay. So she stood up and smiled, too.

Renji's heart fluttered in his chest when he saw Rukia stand and smile at him like that. She was probably just putting on a show so the other girls didn't get weird about their friend waving and beckoning to a strange man, but it still made him smile and remember the old Rukia.

"What are you doing here?" Oriheme cried out once he had gotten closer.

"I was getting bored hanging round the shop, so I thought I'd come pay a visit. I hope it's not a problem," he answered as Oriheme threw her arms around his waist and gave him a hug.

"No, of course not," she squealed.

With a chuckle, Renji patted her on the head and pushed her away. "Alright, Oriheme." Noticing Rukia standing behind Oriheme, he nodded his head in greeting. "Rukia."

"Forgive me for not giving you a hug," Rukia smiled.

"Aww, you're forgiven. I would have thought something was up if you did try to hug me," Renji replied, a smile pulling at his own lips. Even though he would have really liked it if she had tried to hug him...

Oriheme had already returned to her seat on the grass, but Rukia thought it would be awkward for Renji to remain surrounded by people he didn't know, and who were probably confused as to what was going on exactly, so she stepped away from the group on the grass and moved to sit with Renji under a nearby tree.

"What's going on, why are you here? Is something wrong?" she immediately asked once they were seated. She could see Oriheme looking out of the corner of her eyes; she thought there was something wrong as well, it seemed.

"No, don't worry. There's nothing wrong. I just didn't really have anything else to do, other than be made fun of by Urahara and everyone else back at the shop, and I didn't feel like that, so I thought I'd come hang with you. You know, like the old days," he smiled.

"Renji..." Rukia started. He was reaching out to her, she could see that. But the old days he was speaking of were too far in the past. The only old days they had to go by were the days they began avoiding each other after starting in the Court Guard Squads.

"I can't just hang. I have to go to classes, and all that other stuff," she eventually finished.

"Oh." His face dropped a little.

"I'm sorry," she said softly. She knew it couldn't be easy for him to be in the World of the Living, and when no one really acted like they wanted him here. She tried to place a reassuring hand on his leg.

"Yeah, you're always sorry," he replied brusquely, pushing her hand away.

"And just what is that supposed to mean?" she demanded.

"You seem to be under the delusion that you can say and do anything you like, as long as you tell people that you're sorry!"

Rukia stared at him. "What?!"

The tattooed man continued to scowl a moment longer before giving a frustrated sigh and looking away. "Forget it," he mumbled.

"No, I will not forget it!" Rukia got to her knees and scooted around to where Renji was now looking, and grabbed his face in one hand, forcing him to look at her. He didn't want to, though; the anger coming from this small woman was crushing. When aggravated, she was like a little bull dog. "What are you talking about Renji? You make it sound like I completely disregard anyone around me!"

"Hey, check out what's going on with Rukia and that guy," Tatsuki pointed out. "Wonder what's going on there?"

"Lover's quarrel?" Chizura asked distractedly.

"Maybe. But I thought Rukia and Ichigo must have had a thing going," Tatsuki replied thoughtfully.

Oriheme merely gave an awkward chuckle. She knew that whatever it was between Rukia and Renji now was not a lover's quarrel; she could never even imagine the two of them together like that. What made her feel awkward was the comment Tatsuki had casually made about Ichigo and Rukia. She really liked Rukia, but she didn't like the idea of her being with Ichigo.

"I didn't mean it that way, Rukia. Fuck!" Renji exclaimed, and tried to push Rukia away.

"How am I supposed to think you meant it?"

Renji noticed the sadness on Rukia's face as she spoke the last question. Now he was really confused. "Rukia..."

"No," she cried, dropping her hand and sitting heavily on the ground. It was like he had known about the dream she had had this morning, and was trying to make her feel bad for it. "Forget it," she said quieter. "I... I should go back to the girls now, before they think something is up. Go find Ichigo, maybe he'll skip class and keep you entertained."

And with that, Rukia stood up and strode back over to the group sitting on the ground under the next tree over, not looking back at the confused man she had just left.

"Wow, Rukia, what happened? Did you just break up with that guy or something?" one of the girls enquired when Rukia reached them again.

The small girl's head snapped up, and fire filled her eyes. So maybe Renji was still annoyed at that one time so long ago; he had every right to still be angry and to try and make Rukia feel bad for it. But this... girl, who Rukia didn't even know the name of yet, had no right to try and make her feel guilty. "What, you think that just because I had an argument with someone that we had broken up?! Why would you even assume something like that?! You have no proof to back up that claim!" she responded a little too heatedly.

The girl opened her mouth to throw back another retort, but Oriheme stepped up and stood by Rukia. "It's okay, Rukia. She didn't mean anything by it; she was just making a joke."

"Well, I hardly think it's something to joke about," Rukia mumbled and looked away.

"If he doesn't have a girlfriend, then, I'd certainly like to get to know him," another one of the girls said, and majority of the group broke into fits of giggles.

**

"Did you see Renji today?" Rukia asked Ichigo as they were walking back home after school.

"Renji? No. Should I have?"

Rukia kicked at a stray pebble on the ground. She could imagine Renji storming off and just wandering around the city after he left Rukia. "No, I guess not. He just came round to the school today, I think he was bored and wanted some company. I told him that I had class, but that he should find you, that maybe you would have skipped class."

Ichigo gave a loud laugh. "Why would I skip class to hang around with a guy I can barely stand?"

"Yeah, he must have guessed that would have been your reaction, so didn't bother," she sighed.

"Rukia, is there anything wrong?" Ichigo asked after a few minutes of walking in silence.

Another sigh, and Rukia replied, "No, it's nothing."

"It sure doesn't sound like nothing."

"I just had an argument with Renji when he came to the school. I think I might have really upset him."

"Oh, so you're allowed to argue with him, but I'm not."

Rukia stopped. "This isn't a joke, Ichigo."

A few steps ahead now, Ichigo stopped and turned back to look at the stubborn girl behind him. "Okay. Sorry. What was the argument about?"

"I don't even know," Rukia answered, sounding frustrated. "I said something, he took it the wrong way so badly, I snapped, he snapped, I stormed off. And then when I turned around, he was gone."

"Well, you know how he gets worked up over everything. That's why it's so easy for me to tease him," Ichigo smiled, trying to ease the tension Rukia might have been feeling. He really didn't see any need for the small woman to be getting so upset over it.

"You're just as easy to work up, too, don't think you're any better," she smiled back. It was true; Renji and Ichigo were very similar. Her smile faltered, though. "But I think today might have been more than just Renji simply overreacting at something someone said."

"He's a big boy, he can handle himself."

"I know, but –"

"No buts. You know it, I know it. Now, I wanna get home before my dad decides that if I take too long to get home after school he can give me more lessons in self defence," Ichigo said, closing the matter of Renji, and turning back around to continue the path they had been walking before. Rukia sighed again and followed after the taller boy.

**

Renji was still wandering aimlessly around the city, even after school had finished. He was just starting to feel guilty at storming off after talking to Rukia, and was wondering if maybe he shouldn't find her and apologise. She had looked really hurt, and he couldn't stand the thought of upsetting her, no matter how much she had upset him at the same time.

He was starting to get tired of the strange looks of people walking past. His red hair, tattoos, and sunglasses were nothing like anyone had ever seen in this city, and attracting a lot of curious glances. He normally didn't mind, as these were his favourite aspects about himself (and the sunglasses were worth so much in the Soul Society that he was proud of them, and loved every pair he had), but after hours of it, and when he was feeling bad to begin with, it was all starting to wear thin.

He was tempted to hide his gigai somewhere, and just walk around as a Soul Reaper; no one would see him then. But then there were all the problems of people finding his gigai, of him possibly forgetting where he left it... It was just easier to endure the stares, he finally decided.

He eventually came upon one of the many parks, and knew that there probably wouldn't be too many humans there. Without a moment's hesitation, Renji headed straight inside the park, sitting by the pond to watch the ducks swim and fight amongst themselves for bread that was being thrown at them.

This sure felt like a good place to hide for a while.

* * *

Ooooh, some sort of development!  
I wanted to include Oriheme's feelings towards Ichigo, because I have an idea for something involving her.  
But I'm still not sure if I'll go ahead with it. So I shall speak of it no more!

Story alerts are good, reviews are better, and positive reviews are the best!

Constructive criticism is also helpful.  
What can I say? I aim to please.


	3. Chapter 3

**Past, Present, Future**

No one has probably noticed, but I'm a few days off from when I normally update.  
Well, when I planned to upadate, anyway. You see, I had this plan to update every Thursday. It is now Saturday.  
Whoops. Well, I can't imagine too many people are upset anyway. So it's okay.

But I finally found the first Devil May Cry on PS2, and I haven't been able to tear myself away from killing demons with awesome weapons, and playing the sexiest man on the planet. In my opinion, Dante is the eptiome of sexy man: rude, blunt, brash, violent, angry, Japanese in origin (hah), bored, completly apathetic to everything around him that holds no interest for him, and just needing to be loved...

Wow, I just realised I'm just another lame fangirl.

Aaaaaanywho...  
Thanks to everyone who read my story. Bigger thanks to the ones who reviewed and put it on story alert.  
And the biggest thanks in the whole entire world to the people who put me on author alert. *blushes*  
My writing mustn't be as bad as I thought it was (and yes, I am fairly certain that I just made up a word and contradicted myself. But I do that. Like 'sount' instead of 'sounded'. But come on, that just makes so much sense). _stop rambling, no one cares._

So this chapter, sorry to you diehard Rukia/Ichigo fans, holds nothing of the Rukia/Ichigo action you may be hoping for.  
It's more for me, the diehard Renji fan.  
And conveniently, it is relevant to the future of the story.  
So I can still post it X3  
But I promise the Rukia/Ichigo stuff is just around the corner!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Bleach, or any of the characters in the following story. Sure wish I owned Renji, though. The things I would make him and Dante do... (and so the sexual innuendos begin)  
**Warnings:** Sexual innuendos... hah. That, and some sexy time.

* * *

Ichigo was lounging on his bed, iPod stuffed in his ears, reading a magazine casually. They had gotten home from school almost an hour ago, and Ichigo had quickly changed from his uniform into a navy singlet and some tight pale denim cut offs. Rukia was still in her uniform, but had ditched the socks, and was sitting cross-legged on the floor, trying to get some homework done.

Ichigo sighed loudly, but Rukia ignored him. He had been doing this every now and again for the past half hour, trying to get Rukia's attention. But she was just ignoring him. She didn't feel like trying to entertain the boy; her mind was still on Renji, and whether or not he was okay.

"Rukia?"

She continued to ignore him. Ichigo sighed again, and shifted his position on his bed, causing the magazine to shuffle.

"Rukia, I'm bored."

"Do some homework."

Another sigh, another change of position. "But that's boring too."

Silence.

"Where's all the hollow attacks?"

"They don't attack every day."

This time when Ichigo sighed, he sat up. "Sometimes I wish they did."

"If you're so bored and needing to do something so badly, go find Renji. I'm sure he'd spar with you."

"Oh, so you're still worrying about Renji?" Ichigo started to tease.

_Damn, I've given him something to nag about_, Rukia thought dolefully. "No," she lied. "I'm just saying that he would be the best choice for someone to fight with. And that way, if you go play with him, you can leave me alone for a little bit."

Ichigo slid off the bed and sat in front of Rukia, who was still doing her best to ignore him. "Well, I don't feel like sparring with Renji, and having to put up with his smug attitude and all that."

"But you'd prefer to fight hollows?"

This time the sigh was a frustrated one. "No, I guess not. I'm just..."

"Bored?" Rukia finished for him.

"Yeah!"

Now it was Rukia's turn to sigh, and she put down her pen and looked at Ichigo. He was looking back at her with a stupid grin on his face, and she couldn't help but smile at it in spite of herself.

"Why don't we spar? Maybe it will help you get your powers back faster. I'll even stay in my human form so it's a little bit easier for you," he began teasing again.

"So you think I need for you to go easy on me?"

Ichigo held up an arm and flexed. "Does it look like I'd be going much easier on you?" he questioned, stroking his own ego.

Rukia slapped his arm down. "Don't be pathetic. Even in my weakened state, and in this gigai, I could still kick your arse, human or soul reaper."

"Oh, is that a challenge?"

"No, it is not. It's merely stating the facts," Rukia said, a tone of finality in her voice, and picked the pen back up. "Now, go do some homework or something. Most of your friends are such genius' at school; I don't know how you can't feel bad that you're not level with them."

"That was mean." But his voice didn't sound as if he was really hurt.

Rukia continued to ignore him, as she had before. When Ichigo stopped getting the attention he desired, he crouched down and moved so his head was in Rukia's line of sight. "Ruuuuuukiaaaa!" he whined.

Slapping him gently away, Rukia laughed, "Gee, you're so annoying sometimes, Ichigo. And you sound just like Kon when you say my name like that."

Ichigo moved his head back into position under over Rukia's homework. "Come on," he whined.

"Come on what?"

Ichigo continued to stare at her a bit longer, so Rukia pushed his head away again. "I'm serious, Ichigo. Can't you entertain yourself?" she asked as she reached for him.

Ichigo, much faster than Rukia was expecting, pushed the small girl over backwards, grabbing onto her wrists and using them as points to pin her to the ground. "I challenge you to a good, old fashioned, friendly wrestling match."

"Wrestling?"

**

Renji had begun to throw little bits of gravel in the pond that he found lying amongst the grass. It was getting darker, but the lights had just come on, so he wasn't worrying about that.

What he was worrying about was how Rukia had looked, the sad face she had pulled. He knew why he had said what he did; he was remembering the days before Rukia had been adopted, and was remembering the harsh way she had left him. But why had she reacted the way she did? Did she still think about it all too?

Staring resentfully at the pebble in his hand, Renji closed his fist tightly around it before pitching it violently into the pond. He and Rukia were both such strong headed people; they could never say what they really wanted to, ever. He wanted to let Rukia know how much she hurt him, how much he missed her. But his pride would never allow him to admit such a thing. And while he couldn't be sure, he fancied that Rukia wanted to apologise for what had happened, but that her pride also got in the way.

He was out of pebbles to throw. Taking off his sunglasses, he now began to fiddle with them. They were one of the few remaining pairs he had left; fights over the past few months had left him with quite a few damaged ones. And it was all mostly Ichigo's fault. He'd have to get the kid to buy him some new ones.

Sighing, Renji looked out over the pond; it wasn't a big body of water, he could see people quite clearly on the other side. There was a group of friends packing up whatever game they had been playing, a young family taking a walk at twilight, and a few couples here and there. One of them caught his attention, though; a tall man, his arm wrapped lovingly around his smaller female companion as they walked and laughed. With a jolt, Renji was forced to remember how he and Rukia were in the beginning.

"_I'm going to get into the Academy, don't try and pretend like it's not true!" a younger, and much less tattooed, Renji exclaimed to the small girl beside him._

"_I wasn't pretending that it wasn't true. I was saying how I was going to go with you!"_

"_Oh, whatever, Rukia. How would you ever survive in such a place? You have to be disciplined, you do realise that, right?"_

"_Shut up," Rukia said, punching him in the arm._

_Renji laughed, and put his arm around Rukia's shoulders, attempting to crush her into his side. "You won't last one minute!"_

"_Will too!" the girl exclaimed, struggling to get out of the hold the taller boy had on her. "I have to, I have to do it. For everything that we've lost, I need to do it," she finished, her struggles weakening, and her voice sounding sad._

_Renji released Rukia from his grip, his hands going to sit in his lap. The two were at the river's edge, watching the water rush by. It didn't seem that long ago that there had been more of them here, playing around in the water, still believing that life, and surviving, was easier than it seemed._

_A sad silence fell between them, both remembering what they had lost, and what they had promised. Rukia leaned into Renji's side, who automatically put his arm around her, and curled up into his embrace. "Why is everything so hard, Renji?" she asked weakly._

_But Renji only sighed, unable to answer the question that had always plagued them. "I promise it will be different for us, Rukia. We'll fight to escape this life that we were given. Because we deserve better."_

_Rukia squeezed her eyes shut, fighting back the tears that threatened to show. It had only been a few days since they had said goodbye to their last friend, and both were currently feeling the weight of despair settle down upon them. But she couldn't fight it, and Rukia began to silently cry. "Don't leave me, Renji, ever, okay?"_

_Hearing his only friend left crying and begging him not to leave, Renji was shocked. Rukia was always so strong, but now she was just breaking down into tears. Life had just taken too much from the both of them. Cupping his hand under her chin, he forced her to look up at him. "I will never leave you. I never could," he said quietly, his voice full with deep emotion and truth._

_Tear filled eyes stared up at him. Beautiful, dark blue eyes, clouded with sorrow, looked at him desperately. "Promise?"_

_Renji flashed a reassuring smile. "Promise." She was still staring at him, and it felt to him as if her gaze was hypnotising. He looked at her lips – such beautiful lips – pulled down in a sad way. He ran his thumb over the corner of them, feeling the softness of them under his hard, calloused thumb, and they parted a little at his touch._

_They needed to be touched with something softer than his rough thumb, he absently thought. Before he knew what he was doing, his head was dipping, and their lips met for the first time._

_The kiss was brief, chaste and tentative. Neither party understood just quite what was happening. They looked at each for a few seconds after that first kiss, both eyes searching the face of the other, confusion mixing with the sadness they had gotten used to. Then, Rukia reached up, wrapped her hand in Renji's violently coloured hair, and pulled his head back down for their lips to clash hungrily against one another._

_This second kiss was desperate, lips parting to allow tongues to meet. It was as if they were drowning and the other was the life preserver. In a way, that was true; they were drowning in a sea of despair and confusion, and they were the only ones who could save each other from the terrible fate that had befallen their friends, their only family._

_As Rukia wrapped her other arm around Renji's back, Renji cradled Rukia in both his arms against his chest, lowering her to the ground and running his hand along her side, feeling the curve of her waist and hip meeting, and with each upward stroke, her shirt rose a little each time, revealing the smooth skin of her stomach little by little._

_Rukia couldn't understand what was going on. She had never kissed anyone before, and she never would have believed that her first kiss would be Renji, of all people. But as she clung desperately to him, liking the touch of his hand on her side, and the feel of his tongue and mouth against hers, she knew that this was how it was meant to be. There was no one better than her best friend. She loved no one more than Renji._

_He needed to feel her. She tasted so good, but the taste was not enough for him; Renji needed to feel her smooth skin against him. Removing his hand from her side and around her shoulders, he clumsily removed his shirt, throwing it over Rukia's head. The girl stared up at him, and Renji felt his stomach leap; it was too much, he ruined the moment._

_But Rukia placed her hands on his chest, feeling him, running them along his chest, stomach, back and sides. With a smile, Renji lowered himself back down to resume the kiss, just as desperate as before._

_Renji had pushed Rukia's shirt up and was running has hands over her stomach, relishing in the smooth skin under them. Her soft hands all over his back were sending tingling sensations through his body. And before he understood what he was doing, he was asking for permission to remove Rukia's top by gently puling at the bottom of it (which was now around near her armpits)._

_He had never been involved in this type of thing before, either. Everything that was happening now was purely happening on impulse. But it didn't feel awkward, it all felt so natural. He loved Rukia more than anything, and while he didn't know where this was going, he knew he had to continue and find out where this led them to._

_Rukia complied with his request, shifting so that she could comfortably remove her shirt. And when she did, Renji could only look. They never had a lot of money, and seeing as she didn't have much in the breast department, Rukia had never bothered with bras. She only ever saw them as a luxury, not a necessity._

_Renji couldn't help but stare as he felt the excitement course through his body. His heart stopped, and all he could think was that she was even more beautiful than he ever would have imagined._

"_Renji?" Rukia questioned uncertainly. But Renji only shushed her, both his hands moving to cup her modest breasts, squeezing gently, and flooding Rukia's body with warmth. She blushed, her hands still holding Renji at the waist, and Renji smiled at her again._

"_You're gorgeous, Rukia."_

"_Sure, you say that now you've stared at my boobs!"_

_He laughed, and lowered himself back to her lips. "You've always been gorgeous," he mumbled between kisses. "I've just never been able to tell you before."_

_Renji repositioned himself more directly over Rukia now, one of his legs between the both of hers, and began laying light little kisses on her neck, going lower until he reached her breasts. There, he began kissing them, occasionally licking a nipple, and then he took one into his mouth, sucking gently when he got a positive reaction from the gasping girl beneath him._

_She pulled him tighter against herself as she felt his tongue stroking her sensitive nipple, and squirmed beneath him when he sucked it into his mouth. It all felt so... strange. Yet it was the best feeling she had ever felt. She was embarrassed to discover she was starting to feel worked up, and a little hot down 'there', and she felt compelled to push against the leg Renji had between the two of hers. It was a maddening sensation though, pushing against that leg. It was making the strange feeling down there better, but it was also aggravating it, causing it to increase and spread._

_When she began to push onto Renji, he could feel himself starting to lose control. He was getting harder the longer this went on, and this new motion she was doing was not helping in the slightest. He replaced his mouth with his hands on her breasts, and moved back up to her lips, repositioning himself so that he was completely between Rukia's legs. He began to push into her, countering her pushing, so that it was becoming much more forceful._

_Rukia was starting to have trouble breathing. It felt like she was pulling in more air deeper than she ever had before, and it still wasn't enough. She couldn't think anymore, only push harder against Renji, and try to pull him down on her harder. And yet it still wasn't enough._

"_Rukia," Renji panted into her ear. She could barely comprehend him calling her though. It was as if all her senses were alive and heightened, but her mind wouldn't process anything. _

"_Rukia, I want you to touch me," he panted again, unsure of what he was saying, but knowing it was true._

"_What? I am touching you?" Rukia questioned. She didn't understand the request._

"_No, I want you to... _touch_ me." He didn't know how to make her understand. Words definitely weren't going to do it, not at this point in time anyway, when he could barely find the right words to string that last sentence together. So, instead, he grabbed one her hands and ran it down his stomach to the top of his pants, all the while watching her for any reaction which said to stop._

_He couldn't explain the overwhelming desire he had for her to touch him, to hold him, but he knew he had to have it that way._

_As he moved her hand down, Rukia began to feel nervous. This was the first time since this had started that she had actually stopped and thought about what was happening; everything else had just been an automatic reaction. But now words filled her head. She couldn't possibly touch him there... could she?_

_Renji saw the doubt in her eyes, so stopped the movement of their hands. "Rukia?" he began quietly, her wide eyes still staring at him. He wanted to keep going, he wanted it so badly. But Rukia was all he had left, and he definitely was not going to push away the last person he had just because of one little moment. "If you don't want to, you don't have to. We can stop."_

"_It's just too weird right now, Renji," she whispered._

_He let go of her hand, and brushed the hair off her face, a kind smile spreading over his features. "That's fine. We don't have to do anymore than what you're comfortable with."_

_She smiled back up at him. "Thank you."_

_Renji rolled off the top of Rukia, and took up a position by her side, holding her close, stroking her back and kissing her forehead. "I'm nervous as hell," he chuckled, which earned a similar chuckle off Rukia._

"_Me too."_

_Reaching over, Renji grabbed Rukia's top off the ground. "Here, cover yourself back up, you tramp," he joked, handing her the article of clothing._

"_You bastard," she muttered, sitting up to don the top. Once it was back on, she resettled herself back into Renji's arms, a content smile on her face._

"_Renji?" she asked a few minutes later._

"_Yeah?"_

"_You're my best friend, and you always have been. And, well... I just want you to know that... that I love you."_

_Renji smiled warmly at the small girl nestled in his arms. "With all that we've been through, Rukia, it would be hard for me to not love you either."_

Renji shook his head, demanding his eyes back to focus. How long had he been sitting here in the park? How long had he been daydreaming about the first time he and Rukia hooked up?

To drag himself out of the memories, Renji made himself angry. He thought about how Rukia had made him promise to never leave her. What a joke that was, though. In the end, she was the one who left him, making his promise mean nothing. He clenched his hands in his lap, and he gritted his teeth. Even if he didn't love her anymore, he could never really hate Rukia. She had always been that sweet girl with the infectious laughter. And she really had broken his heart. He hated her for that, for being the one who left him. But he couldn't hate her for long. And so he hated her for that. But then he hated her for making him hate her to begin with, when he should never hate someone who once meant so much to him!

Good, now he was mad. It might have been at Rukia again, but at least he wasn't going to drift off like a stupid school girl daydreaming about some teen heart throb.

Staring grumpily over the pond, Renji realised the sun had almost completely gone. He realised he was the only left in the park, at this present point in time. And, when his stomach growled, he realised that in a gigai, in the World of the Living, he had to eat at least once a day.

But what should he do for dinner? He had no human money on him. He could go back to the shop and hope that Urahara made extra dinner for him, even though he had said that morning not to worry about it.

Renji scoffed. He'd be better off trying to find a soup kitchen and convincing the people there that he really was poor, despite his well dressed appearance.

**

* * *

I had fun. Ichigo fans maybe not so much. But as I said before, I promise that stuff is coming.  
Just bear with me while I get everything set out.

If you cared, you'd leave kind words of encouragement.  
If you cared, you'd put it on alert.

If there's something not right, and you cared, you would let me know, no?


	4. Chapter 4

**Past, Present, Future**

Big and lovely thanks to all those who take the time to read and to review. You're all amazing. And must have lives just as pointless as mine, hah (no offence intended. Technically I just insulted myself as well, and I didn't get offended, so you shouldn't be either)

Before we get started on this chapter, I just wanna say a few things:  
Big yays for new Fullmetal Alchemist. But mass confusion as to time lines.  
Does anyone happen to know when it's set? I was willing to believe it was set after Ed became a state alchemist, but before the original anime series started, on account of Hughes still being alive and not knowing the brothers (but still confused by that, because Hughes met them before Ed became a State Alchemist), but then Hughes showed that photo of, like, 4 year old Elicia. And then Mass Confusion set in (yep, capital letters, that's how big it was).

Okay, sorry. I just needed to get that off my chest. And my only friend who watches FMA was getting sick of hearing it, so I needed fresh people to ramble to.

On with what we're all here for! BLEACH!!!!  
And another big yay for no Bounts left in the dub! (What? it's Bleach related.)  
It can finally move on with the proper storyline.

So I got a bit of a big one here for you this week. I'll probably regret it, because then I'll have to write heaps to update in time for next week.  
Lucky I seem to have no life outside of my video games. Damn all my friends having day jobs...  
So, Ichigo and Rukia finally give some sort of acknowledgement towards their feelings for each other.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bleach, or any of the characters in the following story. But I will accept them as gifts! Gift wrapped, please.  
**Warnings:** A few naughty, dirty swear words. Gosh, these boys need their mouths washed out with soap...

* * *

Rukia was winning. Ichigo was annoyed at that fact. Highly annoyed. She was half the size of him, for crying out loud. Never mind the fact that she was a girl!

Time to play dirty.

She currently had his hands pinned either side of his head, her elbows somehow managing to rest heavily on his chest despite the fact her small arms were pinning his hands down somewhere else. But his legs were free...

Ichigo kicked upwards, hoping that the movement would dislodge the small yet strong girl off his chest. She moved, but not enough.

"Give up, Ichigo," she smiled down at him smugly. "You just need to accept that fact that you've been beaten. By a girl."

That made him really cross.

"Fuck you, you're only winning 'cause I let you have the upper hand for a while."

"Really? And watch your language please. All that swearing is starting to make you sound like Renji."

Ichigo squirmed under her weight a little bit more. Rukia laughed at him.

"You're going to have to do more than that if you want to turn things around."

"Oh, I've got more," Ichigo said quietly, a knowing smile forming onto his face.

She now looked slightly panicked. "You've got no more," she said defensively.

Ichigo wiggled his eyebrows, threw both his legs up at the same time, and twisted. She may have had him painfully pinned to the ground with her hands and elbows, but she was still only just a girl, who weighed less than half of him; there was no way she could keep him down, especially if he got enough momentum going.

Rukia merely 'slipped' off of Ichigo's chest, but in that very instant Ichigo threw his body weight the same direction Rukia was falling, causing her to roll onto her back with a smug looking boy holding both her wrists in one hand, the other hand tickling her stomach mercilessly, and his hips using his added weight to crush her lower body to the ground.

"Okay, okay, okay, stop, stop!" Rukia screeched, trying, and failing, to twist away from the torturous tickles.

"Why would I stop? If you're still winning, then I should keep going," Ichigo said innocently, his hand digging deeper into her ribs.

Laughing loudly, tears streaming down her face, Rukia cried, "Fine, fine, you're winning!"

"Hmm... there's no point in forfeiting this lead, though. However, if I had already won, I may stop..."

"Fine, you won!"

"Oh, well in that case," Ichigo said, stopping his fingers from wiggling in Rukia's stomach.

"You're a bastard," she wheezed. "I'll get you."

"Does that mean I have to keep going?"

"No!"

Ichigo smiled victoriously down at the girl scowling indignantly up at him. And it was at this very moment that Ichigo took notice of what was going on.

He was lying on top of a girl. A girl who he dreamed about; a girl who he often found himself just watching, for no reason other than to just look at her; a girl who he felt strong urges to protect, and not just because she had given up so much for him; a girl who had wide, trusting blue eyes, and full, luscious lips...

Removing his free hand from Rukia's stomach, Ichigo cupped the side of her face, so gently that Rukia had trouble telling if he really was touching her.

Her heart thumped loudly in her chest. He had never touched her so tenderly before. But it was... nice. Even his weight on top of her was nice. She knew something was building, but she didn't know what it was, or even what she wanted it to be. Would he kiss her? Would he smile and laugh at her, and yell, 'Got ya!'? Would he shake his head and pull away?

Did she want him to do any of that?

She didn't want to make a sound, though, for fear it would betray all her feelings. Whatever they were.

Reaching out a thumb, Ichigo caressed her cheek gently, as if savouring the softness of her skin under there. He got to the corner of her lip, and stopped, a look of hesitation coming over his face. Ichigo couldn't understand exactly what he was doing; he didn't know what to do next. But everything was happening so naturally, it seemed. Maybe he should just give in to his inner most feelings...

His thumb shifted slightly away from Rukia's lip, and she wondered why she missed its presence. But before she could work it out, Ichigo, staring at her lips, lowered his head slowly, and Rukia held her breath. He was going to kiss her. Did she want him to? If she didn't want him to, now was the time to let that be known!

As his lips touched hers softly, she discovered that she did want him to.

"Ichigo!"

They both jumped, Ichigo releasing Rukia's hands and rolling away from her, a look of pure guilt on his face, and Rukia sitting bolt upright, guilt written over her features as well, as they both stared at the door that had just been banged loudly.

"You have a visitor!" his dad continued yelling through the door. "Quit your studying and come greet them!"

The guilt on Ichigo's face was now replaced with anger at his dad. His heart was jumping around wildly in his chest, not just from kissing Rukia, but from the sudden interruption. He glanced at Rukia as he stood up, and felt his stomach drop a little as he read the guilt on there. He wondered if he had somehow made her feel forced into that kiss?

His anger at his father made him move quickly to the door, yanking it open and storming down the stairs. Whoever this person was better have something bloody important to say.

**

"What the hell are you doing here?" Ichigo asked bluntly, holding the door open but not allowing the person on the other side to step through.

"Is that anyway to greet a guest?"

"I asked you a question, Renji! What are you doing here?"

"Well, if you're going to be so rude about it, I'll just go."

"Good." He began to shut the door, but Renji threw out his hand against the door and stopped the motion.

"Alright, sorry. I'm here because..." He wanted to ask about dinner. But to ask Ichigo that would force him to lower his pride more than he was able. "I wanted to see Rukia," he came up with instead.

Ichigo narrowed his eyes. It must be in relation to the fight Rukia said they had. Well, it had been upsetting Rukia, thinking she had upset Renji, and even though Ichigo thought Renji looked fine (well, fine for Renji. He still looked angry and hostile, but he always looked that way) he should allow Rukia to see him for herself.

"Alright," Ichigo relented, and stepped aside to allow the taller man through the door. Once Renji was inside, Ichigo closed the door and motioned for Renji to follow, and led him up the stairs.

"She's in there," Ichicgo grunted, motioning towards his bedroom door. "Just go on in, and I'll be back in a sec." Ichigo walked off and disappeared into another door, further down the hall.

Now he was here, Renji was disappointed that Rukia was so predictable and be here. Now he was standing right in front of the door, he discovered that he didn't really want to see her. But Ichigo would find it unbelievably strange if Renji disappeared now. And he might mention to Rukia that he was here, and then she might get upset that Renji didn't speak to her.

He placed his hand lightly on the door handle, concentrating on the smoothness under his rough palm. He turned the knob slowly, still trying to put off looking at her. If it weren't for his damn subconscious bringing up those memories before so randomly, he wouldn't be having this trouble now.

"Ichigo?" Rukia called when she heard the door begin to open slowly, but stop. She had resumed her homework to try and take her mind off what had happened before, but she knew that it shouldn't be ignored. The last time she ignored something like that, well... it had gotten out of hand, and both people had been hurt. And, so many years later, it was still yet to be discussed, still interfering with the friendship it had come between. She didn't want that to happen with Ichigo. She can't have done it once before to not have learned from it.

"No, sorry to disappoint Rukia, it's only me." What? She was not expecting that voice.

"Renji?" she asked as he stepped through the door, and shut it softly behind him.

"Yeah," he replied, somewhat sheepishly.

"What are you doing here?"

"Uh, well, I was thinking maybe I could eat with you tonight. You know, to make up for how rudely I acted at the school today." _Damn it, Renji_, he thought to himself. _Why can't you even ask Rukia for dinner?_

"Um, I 'spose. It's not really up to me, though, Renji." She was looking at him curiously. He wasn't acting normal, wasn't acting like the normal confident man he usually was. "What's wrong? Has something happened?"

He looked down at her, shocked and embarrassed that she should pick up that something was worrying him. He rubbed at the back of his neck, staring at the ground. "It's okay. I'm just thinking too much, I'll be fine after a good night's sleep," he eventually replied.

Rukia smiled and patted the floor next to her. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked kindly. "Come on," she continued when he started to shake his head. "I can't have been through so much with you and not know when something is upsetting you."

With a sigh, Renji plopped heavily to the ground, crossing his legs and hunching. It was obvious he was uncomfortable with something.

"You know, I'm not mad about what happened at school," she said softly, placing a hand on his shoulder and trying to relieve the obvious tension he was under. "If I stayed mad at you every time we argued, we'd never talk again."

Memories of her running that same hand across his bare chest made him shiver. Why on earth had he started thinking about these things again?

"Renji?"

The door opened fast, and both people on the floor looked up as Ichigo walked through it, closing it loudly. "Are you still here, Renji?" Ichigo asked impatiently.

Renji scowled at him, moving into a less vulnerable looking position. "Sorry to disappoint," he sneered.

"Whatever," Ichigo replied, throwing himself onto his bed.

"Hey, Ichigo?" Rukia asked.

"Yeah."

"I was wondering if Renji could have dinner with us tonight?"

Ichigo sat up and stared down at the girl on the floor. "Why?"

"Because he's here now, and dinner is almost ready. It just makes sense," she answered, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Fine," he grunted, pushing off the bed. "I'll have to go tell Yuzu."

Closing the door just as softly as he had closed it before, Ichigo stopped just outside of it. What was going on in there? Renji had looked absolutely miserable when he walked in before, but he was quick to hide it. Well, the hiding it part made sense, but the sad part didn't. Looking over his shoulder at the door, Ichigo wondered if he shouldn't take his time telling Yuzu there was going to be another person eating dinner with them tonight; Renji looked like he needed to talk to Rukia.

And as much as he didn't like the guy, he understood that now was not the time to annoy Renji. He might get too pissed off at Ichigo and try and fight him; Ichigo was not in the mood for that.

Rukia sat so she was facing Renji more. "Now, are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

Renji looked at her hands – thankfully in her lap now – before sighing and hiding his face in his own hands. "It's stupid," he mumbled.

"I doubt that it is," she said softly. Now her hands were back on his shoulders again, trying to be reassuring, but just making him feel worse.

He raised his head slightly and looked at Rukia, a sad smile playing at his lips. "No, it really is."

Rukia laughed. "Doesn't mean you can't tell me, though."

"I've been thinking a lot about the early days. Before we became Soul Reapers," he paused before continuing. "When we still had everyone else," he lied, not wanting to give away just what he had been remembering exactly.

The smile died on her face. Those were happy times, as hard as they were. No wonder he had sought her out, just to be around her. She was the only one he had left.

He was staring at her lips again. He was remembering the moans he had made come from them. The only thing he was having trouble remembering was how they felt. He sighed, closed his eyes, and whispered her name.

"Renji? What's wrong, seriously? You're starting to worry me."

This was all so wrong. He never should have come here. Right now, he wanted so badly to lock lips with Rukia, needed to kiss her with as much desperation as he had done that first time they kissed. He wanted to feel her body beneath him, arching with pleasure. He needed to hear her calling his name in the throes of ecstasy.

Opening his eyes again, Renji looked at Rukia, the emotion draining from his face.

"Renji?" Rukia asked again, fear starting to creep into her voice.

Raising his hand, he cupped Rukia's soft cheek under his calloused skin.

"No," she whispered, seemingly more to herself than to Renji, like she couldn't believe what was happening.

"No?" Renji repeated.

"Oh, Renji, I'm so sorry!" she cried, grabbing his one hand in both of hers. Her small hands barely covered just one of his large ones, but Renji thought right now he couldn't have pulled his hand away anyway.

"Sorry? Why?"

"For... For..." she couldn't find the reason. "I just am. I don't know why, but I just am. For everything, I guess."

"I forgive you," he smiled, and leant in as if he were going to kiss her.

"No, Renji."

Now the 'no' _was_ for him.

"What?"

"I can't kiss you. That's one of the reasons I'm sorry, I guess."

"Oh."

They sat in silence, Renji's hand still captured by Rukia's two hands. His body was tingling; he wanted to kiss her so badly. He didn't care that it was someone else's room they were in. He'd take Rukia right here, forget the consequences. It had been so long since he had last had sex, so much had been happening in the past few months, and being a Lieutenant meant he had to be involved in as much of that as possible. And he wanted no one more than Rukia, right now; she looked so cute in that school uniform.

But she was saying no.

Renji Abarai was not used to being told no.

"Why can't you kiss me?" he decided to ask.

Rukia looked down at the ground beside her, releasing his hand from between the two of hers. "Because I have a feeling I know where it would lead. And... I don't think I want that."

Brows furrowing, Renji pulled her face to look at him. "You don't think you want that? It's a simple thing; you either know you want it, or you know you don't."

Now she looked mad. "It is not a simple thing, Renji. Especially when I'm now certain that this is the only reason you've come here!"

"What? That is not the only reason I'm here!"

"Admit it! It's a booty call! If it wasn't, why are you so mad that I'm saying no?"

A low growl of frustration came from his throat as he snatched his hand away. "Fuck you. I can't believe that I managed to forget this side of you."

"And what side are you talking about, Renji? The one that's angry at being constantly used by you?"

"What are you talking about? I never used you!"

The way Rukia folded her arms and looked away suggested that she thought otherwise.

"Why would you think I was ever using you?"

"Because that day I told you that I couldn't see you anymore, that I had to concentrate on becoming a Soul Reaper, you didn't tell me no, that it was stupid. You didn't try and stop me from walking away. And I get that I hurt you that day, but I don't think as much as I expected."

"Are you kidding? You're kidding, right?" he asked incredulously.

"Why would I be kidding?" she asked, looking back at him, eyes beginning to fill with... tears?

"I didn't stop you because I knew everything you said was true. Harsh, but true. If I never cared, why do you think I worked so hard become your brother's lieutenant? Because I wanted to torment you, so I could be close to you if I ever wanted a little something? Fuck that. I became Lieutenant so that one day I could be better than your brother, so that I could one day win you back. Admittedly, it's taken longer than I wanted. But I did all those things because I loved you Rukia. I never lied about that. I never used you; everything I did was because I loved you."

Renji looked down, his hands fiddling in his lap. "That day I wanted to go after you, so badly. But I couldn't let you throw away everything Kuchiki was offering you, not over me. It would have been selfish of me if I had of told you not to go."

Silence fell between the two of them again, Rukia staring at Renji, Renji staring at his hands.

They both jumped when a loud knock sounded on the door. "If you want dinner Renji, you better come get it," came the sound of Ichigo's voice on the other side. His footsteps could be heard walking away from the door.

"Renji?" Rukia called as he stood up.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry for that, too. For the way I left you," she whispered, looking down.

Renji crouched down so that he was eye level with her. "It was so long ago now, Rukia. I'm sorry for bringing it all up again now. But it's too long ago to wish we had done any different. And I'm sorry for making you feel as if I came just to get sex off you, because I didn't. I came to eat Ichigo's food!" he finished, a wide smile pulling at his mouth as he tried to lighten the mood.

* * *

If anyone is going to say anything, Renji is not OOC here.  
Rukia just makes him that way.

Okay, the more serious stuff is set to begin.... *drum roll*  
NEXT CHAPTER!

Because, you know, this stuff isn't serious enough.  
No, I mean serious between Ichigo and Rukia.  
They _really_ acknowledge their feelings then.

The kiss here is just a bit of a teaser.  
Are you teased?


	5. Chapter 5

**Past, Present, Future**

Would have had this posted yesterday, excpet my ISP seems to be having problems lately, and it was down again last night.

A couple of the reviews I got last chapter actually gave me something to have a think about, which is good, and what reviews are all about, I like to think.  
Thank you to all who took the time to read, and thank you to the reviewers.

I didn't write as much as I had hoped to in the past week; lucky I had the first half of this written already when I posted last week.  
This chapter has a bit more goodness in it for the IchiRuki fans. Enjoy.  
*Sigh* Because I'm not overly pleased with it, at least the very start. Feels too fast. And feels too corny.  
First Times are just so hard to write.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bleach, or any of the characters in the following story. I just play around with them sometimes.  
**Warnings:** I think I'm going to go with adult themes on this one. Nothing more, unfortunately.

* * *

Renji had finally left, and Rukia and Ichigo had resumed their previous pursuits; Rukia trying to do homework and Ichigo lounging on the bed reading a magazine, iPod stuffed in his ears.

The small girl on the floor looked up when she heard the music switch off, and Ichigo was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking down at her. "What?" she asked, thinking she must have had pen on her face.

He looked instantly uncomfortable, looking at his feet and scratching at the back of his head. "Look, I wanted to apologise for the... kiss, before."

"Apologise?"

"Yeah. Well, I didn't want you to feel uncomfortable, like I had forced you into it or anything. And if you do feel that way, it won't happen again," Ichigo mumbled, looking at his feet and scuffing them along the ground. Wow, this is hard. Why should it be so hard?

"I didn't feel forced." Now it was Rukia's turn to blush and look down at her hands sitting nervously in her lap. "Actually... I have to admit that I might have liked it," she said quietly.

"What?" Ichigo was shocked. He never really knew that he had such feelings for Rukia, but when she announced that she might feel the same way, he felt his heart leap. He didn't dare to believe it.

"It was nice?"

"What's with the question mark?"

"Well, I guess I don't want to put myself out there, just in case you were regretting it. You never said that you didn't regret doing it," she mumbled.

Ichigo slid down onto the floor, and crawled over to sit next to Rukia, looking at her with intent brown eyes. "I guess that I don't regret it."

"You guess? You're going to have to do better than just guessing."

"Alright," he mumbled, more to himself than to Rukia, and reached over, cupping his hand against her cheek and moving his lips against hers. It was just a gentle kiss, but her eyes fluttered closed, and just as she was about to reach up with her hand to cup Ichigo's face in it, he pulled away, a shy yet mischievous grin written upon his features.

He was shocked. He could not believe what he had just done. But he was also very pleased with himself. It was something he had wanted to do for a long time, so he had discovered.

"Was that better than just guessing?" he asked, the cheeky tone in his voice playing on her nerves. Rukia wanted to hit him, to tell him was nothing more than an immature brat who needed to grow up. She wanted to abuse him physically and verbally. But all she could do was to lean back towards the smiling boy and wrap her arms around his neck as she kissed him harder than before.

Ichigo was even more shocked now. But he was even more pleased than before. Wrapping his own arms around her waist, he pulled her closer, automatically opening his mouth when he felt Rukia's tongue asking for entry.

She was leaning into him heavily, her arms wrapped tightly around his shoulders and neck, and Ichigo tightened his hold around her waist, squeezing her tighter against him. "Rukia," he moaned into the kiss, and could feel the woman smile.

She felt so soft in his arms, and her arms were warm around his back. He felt as if he was in a daze, and he could barely believe this was happening. She was amazing, and he could freely admit that to himself in his mind now that she was this close, and there was no hint that she would reject him.

"You like that, then?" she teased, starting to pull back from the kiss.

The boy nodded, trying to follow her movements away. But then she broke off the kiss entirely. "What are you doing?" Ichigo asked, already missing her slender frame in his arms.

"Just getting more comfortable," she replied silkily, turning to the side and placing herself gently on his lap. With a wide smile, Ichigo returned his arms around her small waist.

"You're right, this is more comfortable," he breathed against her neck, and she giggled, replacing her lips over the top of his own.

He leaned against her, forcing her to lean backwards, as if he were pushing her to the ground. Rukia allowed herself to be lowered, and as he lay against her, hands running up and down her side and causing her shirt to ride up little by little, her heart jolted in her chest.

Hadn't Renji done this same thing, many times over? He would lay her on her back, run his hands over her sides, and kiss her just like this.

_No_, Rukia reprimanded herself. _This was not the same as Renji, not at all_. She decided her mind was just playing games with her because she was already feeling guilty about the conversation she had had with her old friend before. No, this was Ichigo, not Renji. How could she ever remember what Renji would have done; it was that long ago.

She allowed herself to get lost in the kiss again. It wasn't hard. It felt like Ichigo was everywhere, all around her. His body was warm atop of hers, and as she pulled him tighter against her, his hands travelled higher and around to the front of her stomach, just underneath her small bra, and hovered there on her stomach. She smiled to herself. _That's definitely not what would have happened with Renji. Because she didn't bother with bras back then, his hands would have already been squeezing and playing with the soft bumps on her chest. And probably would have been doing the same even if she wore a bra; he would have just slipped under it._

Ichigo froze when he felt the bottom of her bra. She had her arms around his waist, and it felt like her hands were stimulating every inch of his body, her gentle caresses making his body tingle. But the bra, that was unknown territory. And what lurked beneath the bra, well that was the stuff dreams were made out of, and was even more of a mystery than the bra.

He could feel her smiling against his lips, and was confused even more. He must have been doing something right, but if only he could work out what. As far as he could tell, he was just lying over her, still kissing, but completely frozen by the prospect of breasts. And he couldn't imagine that women found that attractive.

And then she deepened the kiss, her touches over his back warming his entire body (specifically the groin region, he noted, a little panicked at _that_ particular feeling). Her hands were driving him crazy, and the thin material of his singlet between them and his skin was just not doing anything for him.

With a brief peck on her lips, Ichigo raised himself up slightly so that he could remove the article of clothing that was ruining everything. Throwing it away, he grinned as he looked back down at Rukia, all previous nerves gone. She looked so gorgeous, lying on her back underneath him, her arms draped loosely over his back, her face flushed and her hair mussed. She was cute normally, but something about the sensual vulnerability she had going on now was just too much for the teen's raging hormones. Especially when she placed her hands on his chest, just over his hammering heart.

As he looked down at her, Rukia wanted him so desperately back in her arms and against her body. She looked at his body again, as she had been doing this morning, but much more appreciative of what she was seeing now. He really had filled out quite nicely, each muscle toned in the way that only a strong fighter could achieve. She ran her hands over his back and around to his front, feeling the supple muscles hidden beneath the smooth skin. But as she felt his chest and abs, her mind dredged up long forgotten memories, and caused her to pull back her hands sharply.

This was too much like Renji. She had never really dealt with her feelings for the redhead, and obviously it was something that she needed to address. And this was highly evident in the way that everything she was doing right now reminded her of him. The first time they had kissed, they had ended up in a very similar position, and if she was not mistaken, the next move Ichigo would make would be to kiss her again, and then remove her shirt.

She tried to push it out of her mind. It was not the same, she repeated in her mind.

Ichigo didn't really notice her falter. His mind was working too fast, his small brain in his pants having already begun the takeover of his body. He replaced his hands back under her shirt, and as he moved to kiss her again, he made to remove the school shirt, fumbling with the buttons on it.

But she pulled away, and his lips landed on her cheek. His fingers stopped work on undoing the second button. "Rukia?" he asked, looking down at her, confusion and frustration coursing through his body.

"I'm sorry, Ichigo, but I can't do this right now," she whispered, eyes squeezed shut, face still turned away.

Confusion left Ichigo's mind, and the frustration grew. What was she playing at?

"I'm sorry," she repeated when her first apology was only met by silence. Opening her eyes a little, she could see the emotions flowing through his eyes, and felt even worse at having put them there. "Ichigo?" she asked when he didn't answer.

"You can't do this right now?" he demanded.

The question reminded her of the one Renji had asked so long ago, so similar in its wording, but even more similar in the confusion it held, and the feelings of pain it caused.

"Rukia! Why won't you look at me?"

She hadn't even realised that she had again turned away from him. She forced herself to look at him as she answered. "I just can't do this, Ichigo. I'm sorry, I really am."

Ichigo pushed himself off the floor, returning to a sitting position and glaring angrily at the girl on the floor. "Why would you even start something like this if you knew you couldn't finish it?"

"I didn't realise that I couldn't finish it," she replied, sitting up as well, and pulling her shirt back down.

"Well why the hell not?" he demanded, his frustration turning into anger. Ichigo would never have pegged her as a tease, but here she was, dangling the juicy worm in front of the fish, and then ripping it away, apologising as if she never meant to dangle the bait in the first place. How could he let her play him like that?

Her eyes dropped to the floor. "It's not fair to you that..." she began, but faltered. "It's complicated," she said instead, and returned her gazed back to his, forcing herself to look at his eyes. "Ichigo, I am so sorry."

The boy stood quickly, glaring down at Rukia. "It's not fair to me?" he demanded, but she only looked back down again. "You know, Rukia, apologising over and over again isn't just going to make it better. You can't do anything you like, and then apologise for it and hope that it's all going to go away again!"

Frustrated even more by her silence, Ichigo stormed from the room, slamming the door behind him. But she couldn't move, or try to go after him to attempt to explain it. All she could think of was the words he spoke. Ichigo was right, hell, Renji was right earlier that day; she just couldn't play with people and then just change her mind, expecting just an apology to suffice.

**

Later that night, when Rukia lie awake in her cupboard (she thought of it as 'hers' now, even though she had imposed on the boy's room) she kept replaying the kiss with Ichigo over and over in her head. Not the stuff that had happened after the first tentative kisses, but the actual tentative kisses themselves. At the time she hadn't realised, but looking back now she could see and remember the similarities between Ichigo and Renji. Obviously there were the similarities with the other stuff, but it was the first kiss that had her so shaken right now.

Their first kiss, Ichigo had done the same as Renji; cupped her cheek in his large and rough hand, staring at her lips, before lowering his own to meet hers.

Rolling over on her side, Rukia frowned at the door she was now facing. The two men had too much in common. Both extremely hot headed, and quick to do something rash, no matter what the situation, but both caring greatly for those they held dear. Rukia decided that because they were so similar was why didn't exactly get along. But was that also why she had started to feel this way about Ichigo? Because he reminded her of the Renji she had once loved?

**

The next morning was a little awkward. Rukia waited until Ichigo had left for the shower before emerging from her closet, unsure as to just what her feelings were, and unsure as to whether or not Ichigo was still angry at her. He hadn't spoken to her last night when he had come back into the room, just crawled right into bed and shut off the light. But Rukia supposed it was difficult to start a serious conversation when one of the people was shut away in a cupboard.

She slipped on her skirt, attempting to straighten the creases out. So much for wanting to talk to Ichigo about that first kiss; she had launched right into a rather heated make-out session with the boy instead, and had only succeeded in upsetting the both of them, and probably ruining what she had wanted to protect in the first place.

Pulling off her singlet and covering her exposed chest with a bra, Rukia sighed. Ichigo already had enough confusion and uncertainty in his life because of her exposing him to the Soul Society, and then she had to go and pull a stunt like kissing him. She never should have allowed it to happen. She had slipped, allowing her personal feelings get in the way. And now they might both be in jeopardy if they came up against an enemy, both preoccupied with what had happened between them.

Putting on the white blouse she had to wear to the school, Rukia regarded her brother's cold attitude towards everyone and everything. She could now see that Byakuya was right in living his life like that, blocking everyone out, allowing no one to get close. Never mind that it had often upset her that someone who she called brother would treat her as a subordinate; it allowed him to never get hurt, emotionally or physically. He was never worried about stupid feelings if he came up against an enemy, and he never had to worry about how someone was going to react to something he said or did.

She thought that right now, she possibly envied the way he lived his life. Maybe it was time for her to start living the same way.

Ichigo always held a notion that the shower was the best place to think. For him, there was just something to soothing about the water hitting his skin, at just the right temperature. There was just something relaxing about the way it lazily ran down into the drain on the floor. And the noise of the water hitting the tiles drowned out any outside noise, allowing him to get completely lost in his thoughts.

But right now, his thoughts weren't exactly the nice place he normally regarded them as. All he could do was to think of Rukia. And the dreams he had had last night hadn't helped at all. He had awoken to find he had a rather urgent problem in his pants that needed dealing with right away. And discovering that did not help his feelings of irritation towards her in the least.

Just what was she playing at last night? Just right when he was starting to really get into it, she pushes him away, and tells him to back off. Had he done something wrong? He didn't think he had gone too far or overstepped the boundaries, considering the way she had been reacting, and the way she had allowed it to start in the first place.

Now, he figured that he could have maybe handled it better. But at the time, it was like being shown, and led to believe, that you could have the expensive toy in the window, but immediately denied it the moment you tried to take it.

And then, that stupid reasoning she had; that she couldn't do it, that it wasn't fair on him. What was that? What was she talking about? And what did she think 'it' was, anyway? Come to think of it, what did he consider 'it' to be?

He glowered at the tiles in front of him, at the assorted bottles of shampoo, conditioner, razors and soap. Girls were so confusing, always changing their minds about what they wanted, and never having a reason for it. Just because they "didn't feel like it anymore". Or some strange cryptic reason, that made no sense whatsoever.

Shutting off the water, Ichigo instantly missed the feeling of it, the sound of it. All that was left was that dripping of the water down the drain that managed to get on your nerves so quickly. He stepped from the shower, drying himself off quickly before wrapping the towel around his waist. He was not looking forward to going back to his room, where he knew she would be waiting. Knowing her, she'd probably try and sit him down and talk about what had happened. And he did not feel like having her give some rational explanation for it. Because then it would make his reaction irrational, and make him seem like an immature spoilt child who didn't get his way.

But he walked out of the bathroom anyway and headed back to his room.

Like yesterday, Rukia was sitting on his bed, her slender legs crossed and tucked under her, running a brush through her silky black hair. He felt his eyes linger on her, not just her legs or body, but at the complete sight of her; she was absolutely breathtaking, and she probably didn't even realise it. Even if Ichigo had said something (if he had of been the type of person to say something like that) he knew she would deny the statement and shrug it off.

_What are you doing? You're angry at her, remember?_

Shaking his head to attempt to clear it, he repeated the daily ritual of walking to the cupboard and sliding it open to search for his ever disappearing uniform.

Sulking on the other side of the room, Rukia had watched from the corner of her eye when the boy had first walked in. As usual, the towel was wrapped loosely around his waist, his torso only half dry with a few missed droplets of water sitting and running down his skin, and his hair messed up more than it usually was from having been washed roughly in the shower. She had seen him looking at her with a hesitant yet intent gaze, and had felt her entire body flush slightly under this gaze. And then, as soon as he had turned away, she immediately found herself missing his gaze.

Running the brush absently through her hair, she watched him search furiously through the cupboard, and not just out of the corner of her eye now. She knew she had upset him last night, and could see that he was still a little upset. And she felt bad for it. He was a nice kid, who just wanted to help the ones he cared for.

She frowned slightly. She wished she could work out what her feelings were exactly. Since last night, every time she thought that maybe she did like him for him, she started getting confused again shortly after and believed that maybe it was just because of Renji and everything he had made her remember recently.

Ichigo spun around, buttoning the last button on his school shirt. He glanced at Rukia sitting on his bed, brush lying forgotten in her hand, a thoughtful frown on her face. "Uh... Rukia?"

Hearing her name called, Rukia snapped her head back up to look at him, the frown slipping quickly from her face. "Yeah?"

"I'm going to get breakfast, then head off to school."

She forced a quick smile and resumed brushing her hair. "Okay, then. Guess I'll see you there, then."

Ichigo hesitated at the door. "Do you, uh, want me to get anything for you? We can eat while we walk."

Again, she stopped brushing her hair, and the smile that graced her face felt more sincere. "Okay."

As he left through the door, Rukia hearing him clump down the stairs, she could feel her smile spread. He was definitely a good kid. Maybe she did really like him because of him.

* * *

Wow, how frustrating?  
I know that I'm frustrated that I can't just seem to write a happy ending for the adorable pair...  
But Renji refuses to die that easily.

But at least I didn't finish this one with the two still upset at each other.  
At least I sort of resolved it...

I'm not sure if next chapter will be up in a weeks time. I don't seem to have the inspiration to write at the moment. And not just this story, just writing in general.  
Usually, when I'm in the mood to write, I can easily churn out two or three pages. But the past week when I forced myself to write, I only managed a few paragraphs each time.  
But who knows, maybe it will come back to me this week. Guess you'll just have to be surprised.

Feel free to leave a review. Doesn't have to be anything overly useful, even a smiley face, or a thumbs up or something.  
Let me know if you're enjoying this so far, as slow moving as it seems to be.


	6. Chapter 6

**Past, Present, Future**

Wow, chapter 6. I truly am amazed with myself.  
This is the longest that I've ever stuck with one story, by quite a lot *pats self on back*

So, as usual, thank you to the readers and reviewers of my strange imaginings.  
If it weren't for you, I probably wouldn't have stuck with this for so long. People actually reading what I write compels me to write.

With this chapter, it's a little bit shorter than the previous ones. Mainly because this past week I haven't felt the need to write, except for the other day when I for some reason started a new original story. I don't know why I did it, it's not as if it will ever get read by anyone other than me.  
Also, I don't really know what this chapter is. It seems to be moving towards something though, and I suppose that's a good thing. I think my main problem with this is that I have an idea of what I want to happen, I'm just not yet sure of how I'll make it happen. Think of this as a filler, I guess.  
But then, maybe not. Who knows. Could be anything.  
Shutting up now.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Bleach, or any of the characters in the following story. I do, however, own a few volumes of the manga.  
**Warning: **Some more adult like themes that little kiddies should probably not be exposed to.

* * *

"I'm going to put you in groups of five for this assignment. And we're going to go about this alphabetically."

The class could be felt to silently simultaneously groan. Not only was the teacher handing out one of the dreaded mid-term assignments, it was going to be a group assignment, and they couldn't even choose their own groups.

A student in the back put his hand up. "Why can't we just choose our own groups?" he asked. The teacher, standing up front of the class and handing out the sheets of paper with the assignment on it looked at him like he was daft.

"Because it never works well that way," she answered, looking back down at the stack of papers in her hand. "We always have the most committed students grouping in together, and we always have the less committed students grouping in together. The results when we did it that way were too apart, so this way, at least we can attempt to get a better average for our class." _And beat some of the other classes of the year_, she thought to herself.

Ichigo felt pulled in two ways. He was most likely going to get put in with Rukia. He saw that as one of two things; good, or bad. Good, because he knew Rukia probably wouldn't slack on the assignment, and good because he could be with her at all times, in case there was another hollow attack (he wasn't going to admit that it was good because he'd get to just be around her). Or, it could be bad because he'd be stuck with her, and forced to be civil towards her while around other people, and he didn't yet know if he was still angry at her or not.

The teacher had begun reading out the names of the groups. Naturally, Ichigo had just tuned out. He'd listen when she got closer to his name.

There was a small bird on the window sill. He watched it. It was pecking at a fine cobweb in the corner, probably eating the spiders. He envied this bird. It wasn't ridiculed by other birds because of its bright colours; it was probably not even bright enough, really. And right at this moment, its main concern was to get the spider in the corner, which appeared to be eluding it thus far.

"Inoue, Orihime," Ichigo heard the teacher announce, and tuned back in to the classroom. He'd be soon. He just wished he knew whether or not Orihime was already in a group, or if this was the start of one.

"Ishida, Uryu. Kojima, Mizuiro. Kuchiki, Rukia. Kurosaki, Ichigo. You are group four."

Ichigo glanced around. Mizuiro was smiling idiotically at him, and Ichigo forced a smile back at him. He knew he'd soon get sick of that kid. He'd get sick of Uryu pretty fast, too, come to think of it.

As the teacher continued on grouping the rest of the class, Ichigo looked back at the bird. It was still staring intently at the cobweb, its head moving every now and again as it surveyed the spider. Then it hopped a little to side, looking at its prey from a new angle.

Wow, that bird can't be too smart if it can't catch a damn spider sitting in a corner...

Chairs began scraping around Ichigo, and he focused back on his classmates. They were standing up and moving their chairs to sit in their groups. And as Ichigo looked around for the rest of his group, he found that they were coming towards him. _Good_, he thought with a smug smile. _Make them come to me_.

He couldn't help but feel the smile slip a little as Rukia sat opposite him, between Uryu and Mizuiro; he had just assumed she would sit next to him. But that was silly; he had no reason to suspect that she would sit next to him. And he had no reason to be disappointed when she didn't.

"How great is it, being in a group together?" Mizuiro asked Ichigo happily.

"Yeah, I suppose so," he replied nonchalantly, looking back out the window. But the bird had now gone. Ichigo found himself wondering if it had gotten the spider.

"What are you looking at?" the brunette beside him inquired, straining to see what was so interesting.

"Nothing."

"Nothing?" He sounded doubtful.

"I was watching a bird before, but it's gone now."

Now he looked confused. "Okay..."

The rest of the day passed in a haze that Ichigo barely registered. He rarely paid attention in class anymore; instead he watched what was going on outside the window. It was never much, considering they were on the third floor, but sometimes a bird landed on the windowsill (much like before) or the tops of the trees moved in a specific way in the wind.

Behind him, Rukia wasn't paying much attention either. She felt she had no use for this stuff they were learning, and sometimes even wondered why she still bothered with this school girl charade. But today, her attention wasn't drifting as far as the tree tops outside the window, and the few birds sitting in them; she was casually watching the orange haired boy in front of her.

She knew he wasn't listening either. His head was being held up by his right hand, and cocked towards the window. His shoulders were relaxed, slumped forward in a casual manner. Every now and again his foot tapped lightly on the leg of the chair for a few minutes, then stopped again. Ordinarily, she would have found that irritating, the quiet noise that it made. But today... for some reason she found it almost cute?

She shook her head. That was a stupid thought. How could anything that boy do be cute?

The final bell for the day rang, and the class began to pull out their bags to load their things back into them. The teacher was calling suggested instructions for the assignment over the clatter that the bell had created, but not many of the students were listening.

They had decided that after school this afternoon they would head back to Orihime's house to start on the assignment. It wasn't a big one, but they had only been allocated two weeks to complete it and Uryu and Mizuiro had both agreed that they should knock over as much of it as possible as quickly as they could. Ichigo had mumbled something like "Nerds" under his breath when the two had suggested it and gotten excited about having time to perfect it once they were finished it.

"Hey, guys, I'm just going to head back to my place first, change outta my uniform and leave a note for my parents," Mizuiro said as he sidled over to the group.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Should probably let the old man know what I'm doing so he doesn't accuse me of being late when I get back home," Ichigo mumbled to himself, imagining the 'surprise attack' he'd receive.

"Why don't we all just meet up at Orihime's in an hour or so then?" Uryu suggested.

"Yeah, sounds fine," Mizuiro commented.

"No problem," Ichigo muttered again. Rukia and Orihime nodded.

Orihime was the first to go, claiming she had to pick up some things so she could make dinner for them, and Uryu was quick to follow, suggesting he offer her some help so that nothing she was going to make was too strange for them to eat. As the last three left the school grounds, Mizuiro admitted he wasn't completely sure on where Orihime lived.

"Just come by my place then. It's on the way to Orihime's from yours," Ichigo suggested.

The smaller boy beamed at the idea, clapped Ichigo on the back, and said, "You're a champion, Ichigo. Alright, I'll see you soon then."

**

When Ichigo walked through the front door, he was relieved to see his father was not on the premises. He'd have to leave a note for him, seeing as Yuzu and Karin didn't appear to be here either, but he was already expecting his father to conveniently 'not see' the note.

Upstairs Rukia was already in his room, and looked to be in the process of unbuttoning her blouse to put on the dress that was draped over his bed. Ichigo pushed the door open without considering that there was someone already inside; it was _his_ room, after all.

"Ichigo!" she shrieked as he stepped into the room, and she pulled her school shirt closed again, hugging it around her. "Knock!"

"What? It's my room!"

She 'humphed' and frowned at him. "Don't just stand there, then! Either get out or turn around!"

Ichigo frowned back. And in his opinion, he had the better frown. He did wear one pretty much permanently attached to his face.

"Fine," he eventually admitted, turning around to pull open his cupboard doors, trying to remember if his favourite shirt was in there or in the wash. Behind him, he could hear Rukia pulling off her school shirt, and tried to not imagine her doing it. He shut his eyes as he unbuttoned his own school shirt, willing the images floating in his mind to go away. When he heard the zipper on the skirt, however, his mind took off.

He imagined him turning around to see her standing there in her underwear. For some reason, she was wearing a push up bra and a thong. They were lacy and a pale blue colour, complimenting her fair skin and eyes nicely, and somehow making her seem even more alluring.

"What are you looking at?" she asked in his mind.

He saw himself smiling back her cheekily. "Just admiring the view."

She looked down at herself, and when she glanced back again there was a look of seduction on her face. "You like what you see?" imagination Rukia questioned, biting her lip and pulling down the top of her thong slightly to reveal more of that smooth skin.

"Yeah, it's not bad," he replied, stepping forward and pulling his school shirt off. "I gotta admit, though, it could be better."

She pulled a look of feigned innocence now. "Oh really? How so?"

"Well, you could be wearing less," he answered, stepping close to her and resting his hands on her waist, his hands fitting perfectly in the small curve there.

"Is that so?" she asked, closing the small distance between them and running her hands under his singlet.

"Yeah, it is." He moved his hands around her back and slid them over the lacy material to grasp at her arse, pulling her closer against him. "Want me to help you improve on that?"

"Actually, I think I would like your help," she said quietly into his ear, grinding against him softly. "What do we do first, sir?"

He ran his hands back up her back, fiddling with the clasp on her bra. "First off, this needs to go."

She pulled her hands back out from under his singlet and stretched around her back, brushing her fingers over his and pushing her chest into him as she unhooked the bra. Sliding it off each arm slowly, she pulled it off and held it out, smiling innocently as she dropped it to the floor. "Better?"

"Much," he replied, feeling her naked breasts rubbing against his chest.

"Oh wait," she cried softly. "I shouldn't just leave that lying around on the floor," she said, turning around and bending at the waist so her arse stuck into his crotch.

Ichigo grabbed her hips in both his hands, and pulled her harder against him, running his hands around the top of the thong until they reached at the front. He slipped a finger inside the thin material, pulling it down a little as he went. "I think we're getting closer to how the view could be better," he muttered, slipping the thong down slowly.

"Ichigo!"

Ichigo jumped, and refocused on the present to find himself staring into his closest, still only halfway through unbuttoning his school shirt, and an uncomfortable feeling in his pants.

"What?" he called guiltily, not wanting to look around at her. He still had that image in his mind of her in the bra and thong, and didn't know what he would do if he turned and actually saw something even remotely similar.

"Is there a nice view of something on the back of the cupboard?" she teased.

He blushed slightly at the remark about the view. _Not really_, he thought. _Unless there's a picture of you in a bra and thong_. "Ah, yeah, it's great?" he said instead.

He heard her sigh and say, "Whatever."

"Um, I was thinking, I'm going to have a quick shower before we head over to Orihime's," Ichigo said quickly.

"Okay, but make sure it's a quick one. I don't want to have to answer the door if Mizuiro comes and you're still in the shower."

"Uh, yeah, sure," he stammered. Grabbing the nearest shirt and pair of jeans, he rolled them into a little ball in front of him, hiding the result of his daydream from view. He then willed himself to turn around and look at Rukia.

When he did turn around, she was merely standing in the middle of the room wearing the dress that was previously laid out on the bed, and a confused expression on her face. He forced a laugh. "Won't be long then."

At least, with that image of Rukia still fresh in his mind, he didn't think he'd be too long.

* * *

Hmmm...  
Where is this off to?  
Don't ask me. I don't know.  
If I can't think of anything soonish, you'll probably just start getting my crazy ramblings, only in story form. Or fluffly lemons (why did I just think of mould on a lemon? And now I'm thinking about old people sex. Okay, now, yuck. Yes, I hate me too for mentioning that).

Well, I do have a vague idea of where it's off to.  
How it gets there, now that is what is eluding me.

Daydreams are fun though.  
Anything can happen in a daydream. And if anyone wants to say anything bad about the situation, I just smile annoyingly and nod and reply with, "It's a daydream. Anything is possible in a daydream."

Please leave some love!  
Shower me with praise!!  
And one day I shall be ruler of fanfiction!!!!!

...  
*Ahem*  
Only love and praise me if you think I deserve it, of course.


End file.
